Omar campaign denies involvement in husband’s business deals

Various business dealings involving Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s husband have become the latest dust-up in what will be a heated Democratic primary contest for the 5th Congressional District nomination.

A report in the Minnesota Reformer highlights several business dealings involving Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett, and his business partner Will Hailer. The report claims Mynett and Hailer promised an investor would triple his money back from a $300,000 investment in a winery business. They eventually did pay the initial $300,000, but not the additional $600,000 they promised. According to the Minnesota Reformer, they’re now being sued by the investor for $780,000, which includes interest.

In addition to that controversial deal, the Reformer also says companies associated with Mynett and Hailer owe three South Dakota marijuana entrepreneurs $1.2 million in another failed deal.

“Unfortunately, this story is just the latest scandal in a string of news stories about Rep. Omar that narrow the focus on her,” Omar’s 5th District primary opponent, Don Samuels, said at a news conference Thursday at his campaign headquarters in Minneapolis.

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Samuels claims the money Mynette used in these business deals initially came from $3 million the Omar campaign paid Mynette and Hailer’s former political consulting firm for work they did on her 2020 campaign.

“The most troubling element of this story is Rep. Omar’s refusal to address the scandal,” Samuels says.

A spokesperson for the Omar campaign did address the issue on Thursday.

“This is clearly a politically motivated attack and frankly it reeks of desperation from a campaign that is struggling to gain momentum,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Since Rep. Omar secured the DFL endorsement on the first ballot our campaign continues to see a groundswell of support and enthusiasm. Rep. Omar has no involvement in any business ventures. While our opponent is focused on a personal smear campaign, Congresswoman Omar’s campaign is focused on the issues that matter most to the voters of the Fifth District and improving their daily lives.”

Omar is the DFL’s endorsed 5th District candidate. She also had the endorsement in 2022 when she narrowly defeated Samuels in a primary.